vintage halloween costumes

in case you are wondering what we're dressing as this halloween -- the mister and i will be at our bi-monthly dance club downtown donning these costumes from the 1920's.  he'll have to be a bit more careful with items of this vintage.  the pierrot blouse had a pair of matching pants back in the day but let's just say the dance party was in full swing last year when wardrobe malfunctions ensued.  this charming little neck ruff belongs to a separate clown costume, but i think it would make an adorable head piece for the evening.

have fun out there tonight and be safe!

happy halloween!

halloween is a holiday near to dear to my heart for many reasons.  what's not to love about gorging on candy and playing dress up?  several years ago i became obsessed with crepe paper costumes, which was all the rage for children and adults throughout the 20th century.  the dennison manufacturing company, later to become avery dennison (of school and office supply fame), published numerous how to manuals ranging from crepe paper costume making to decorating with crepe paper.  researching and collecting these delightful bits of vintage ephemera led me to discover the wonderful world of halloween, circa 1920's and 30's:

i was fortunate enough to get my hands on these lovely bound editions of weldon's fancy dress, which remain some of the most cherished pieces in my collection.  these were printed in england during the 1920's.  the costumes are sold in pieces and assembled at home, much like predecessors to our modern day costumes in a bag.  i particularly adore all the colours used and the pierrot costume with the eye and lip print -- how decidedly schiaparelli!  a few of the costumes are quite controversial, as we see below with the "ku-klux klan for boys 8-16 years ", black face, and bizzare chinese clown examples -- surely a reminder of how far we've come!